Some days
death is physical here…actually many days.
Then there are other days when death is spiritual, mental,
emotional. When childhood dreams die
before they take their first breath. When HIV roots in a young man’s core and
tells him to hide, to give up. When a
struggling mother lashes out in physical abuse as fear torments her and she
panics at the thought of losing her fourth child to disease.
What do you
do when death grips? I have to choose daily when it grips…to release. I hold things loosely as I realize I have no
power to grip life and death the way the enemy would like me to. I choose to
encounter my Father in each circumstance, to exchange what was in my grip for
what He now gives, what I now hold loosely…that is what it truly means by He
gives and takes away!
Job 1:21…”Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and
the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
He
exchanges death for life! Suffering, grief, sorrow, and struggle for eternal
life…for eternal hope. I struggle when I advance with violent effort or contend
with an adversary that has already been defeated. I hold life loosely while I
stand firm and choose to release what does not belong to me.
1 Corinthians 15:58…”Therefore, my dear
brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself
fully to the work of the Lord. Because you know that your labor in the Lord is
not in vain.”
